A few of my Favorite Things...

I love Christmas! Every December, my home is transformed for the holidays. I usually unpack and put out everything in one day, but this year it's taken me 3 days just to get the ornaments unpacked. My back has pretty much incapacitated me...and I store everything in large rubbermaid containers in the basement. Thank God for my sweet hubby who had days off, and did all the heavy lifting for me! And for my kids, who helped me unpack and never broke anything :) My family has really stepped up to help around here since my back started giving me grief...who knew they could be so independent?  I am pleasantly surprised...guess they have been paying attention.

I have several Christmas decorations that I love, and I thought I'd share them with you. You know, as I was taking photos, I realized I don't have any pictures of these things. Why do we not photograph the things that we love more often?  My mind is swimming with scrapbook page ideas for these photos, I think a "My Favorite Things" page would be a great addition to a holiday album!

I really hate the brass accents on the fireplace, and have been wanting to change them, but they actually work with my gold/cranberry color scheme at Christmas. We use this fireplace every day in the winter, this is the coziest room in the house.

My Christmas Countdown Calendar...this has to be my kids favorite decoration. Behind each door is a wooden toy ornament for them to hang on a peg in Santa's workshop. There is also, mysteriously, chocolates in each little door every year.... Tonight they get to fight over who opens the 1st door, after today they take turns each evening.  I found this a few years ago at Costco for $35! What a find!

My Nativity set, given to me several years ago by my best friend, is one of my most cherished Christmas decor item.  Each character is almost 2 feet tall, so it doesn't fit under my tree, so I have it on a bench behind my sofa, it's the first thing you see entering my living room.  Would you believe these are made out of paper?  The faces and hands are porcelain (as is baby Jesus), but the crinkly stuff is paper. Here are some close-ups so you can see the details...

And I just know I'm going to hell for posting this pic,

but my kids giggle every time I put Baby Jesus out because of this:

Is this not the most precious Nativity set you've ever seen?

This beautiful heavy glass bowl was a wedding gift, I used to fill it with Christmas candies on my coffee table, but we really don't need the extra calories sitting in front of the TV all month. This works better:

My Santa collection sits on the TV:

I also have several beautiful ornaments which bring back memories every year when I unpack them: 

My Mom has been giving me these Hummel collectible ornaments each year. I have several now, and I love them!

And of course I'll always cherish these ornaments the kids made at school:

Yep, that's an "antique Christmas light" (according to my kids)

My darling Jenna in Kindergarten. Made with a baby food jar lid.

How cute!

This one made me cry...

My kids know the true meaning of Christmas, they each made one of these in Grade 2, and they bring a tear to my eye each time I read them.  They are called "The Important Book", and on each page is a picture and a story abut each character in the Nativity, and why they are important (in my kid's own words)...

Here's a sample of the inside:

by Jenna

by Shane

My kids have the best teachers in the world!

Do you have Christmas ornaments or decorations that hold special meaning for you? This year, take some photos of them and add them to your Christmas album. Years from now these may become heirlooms, and wouldn't it be nice to know the story behind them? We seem to only take photos of the people we love, why not scrap a page about the things we love too?

I hope you enjoy decorating your home for Christmas as much as I do!

Lorrinda